Diana
by there'snoexcuseforme
Summary: Diana of Themyscira always believed she was sculpted from clay, but the truth of her birth was far less fantastic.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first time i've written anything for Wonder Woman, so please don't judge it too harshly. Thanks.**

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Diana of Themyscira had always believed the story of how she came to be, that her mother sculpted her from clay and she was brought to life by Zeus. She didn't know that the truth was far less fantastic, that her mother had lain with Zeus, that he had put a baby inside her that was designed to be a weapon, that she was born from Hippolyta's own womb after a long hard night of labour.

There was no pleasure in the act in which the child came to be, it was Zeus's will that a weapon be forged, and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, was the one he chose to bear the child, and she had no choice but to submit to him.

She didn't want to feel affection for the child, this weapon that was growing inside her. It was hard not to though, in the evenings as she watched the sun setting over her paradise she would feel the child kicking inside of her and she would smile down at her swollen belly, rubbing it gently as if to pacify the restless babe. She knew loving it would only make everything harder, if the child was a weapon then it would have to fight, and she may have to watch it die in battle, so not loving it would be the easiest thing for them both.

But that would prove to be easier said than done…

When her time came to give birth she would only allow Antiope to be present, not even one of the islands healers was to be in the room with them, that was Hippolyta's wish. Her many attendants were sent out of her bedchamber and they stood guard, waiting for their princess to be born. The screams of pain from their queen though were hard for even the toughest amazon to hear, and even Antiope who was the closest to Hippolyta was finding it hard.

It had been a long labour, taking an entire day and night. Hippolyta was laid on her bed covered in tears, covered in sweat, panting through the contractions and cursing Zeus's name as the pain threatened to split her in half. Antiope was helping her delver, looking between her legs to see the progress. The amazons had no qualms about their bodies, the warriors always bathed and undressed in front of each other so to Antiope this was nothing to shy away from.

"I see the head" Antiope exclaimed to her sister as the labour neared the end "It will soon be over"

Hippolyta tried to prop herself up on her lower arms as the last part of the labour was finally here, another contraction ripped through her as she pushed the head out, followed shortly by the final stage and the child was at last born into her Aunts arms.

"You…..You have a daughter" Antiope managed to stammer out as she held the tiny thing in her strong hands.

Hippolyta threw her head back against the pillow and let more tears fall down her face, covering her ears as Antiope cut her cord with a knife and the tiny baby began crying, taking her first breaths in the world. She didn't want to look at it, she didn't want to hear it, it wasn't a child, it was a weapon and it wasn't meant to be loved.

Antiope watched as her sister turned her face to the side, closing her eyes to the world not looking at her or the baby she had just bore. Antiope cleaned the child a little in a basin of water she had prepared by her feet then wrapped her up in a warm cloth.

"Won't you look at her Hippolyta?" She asked her sister "She's beautiful"

Hippolyta sniffled weakly then opened her eyes and nodded, relenting and daring to see the baby girl. She tried sitting up a little on the bed and Antiope raised the little bundle up so her sister could see it. Hippolyta looked through her own tears at the tiny child, it was still crying softly but Hippolyta looked at it…

And then she knew that was it, there was no going back now…

She knew she loved it.

She reached her arms out and spoke softly "Give her to me" she said. Not as a command, but spoken as a mother who needs to hold their child.

Antiope stood and placed the mewling baby into her mothers arms, "Your daughter my queen" she said as she handed the baby over.

The baby girl stopped crying as she was placed in her mothers arms, and her little eyes seemed to roam as if she was searching someone out, then they locked onto her mother, and once Hippolyta looked deep into those gorgeous brown eyes she knew she was completely in love. Not the same love as she felt for her home, or her sisters, but a different love she didn't know she could feel. It was almost overwhelming.

"Oh….." she gasped looking at her daughter. "She _is_ beautiful" she said, confirming what Antiope had told her moments before.

Antiope smiled and turned her attentions back to the process of childbirth as she took care of the afterbirth, listening as her sister cooed over her daughter.

"Hello my beautiful girl" Hippolyta whispered before kissing the tiny girls soft head. She touched one of her little hands gently with her index finger and marvelled as the baby girl gripped it with all her might, as little as it was it still felt strong to the Queen "My princess" she whispered softly to her.

When the afterbirth was safely delivered Antiope stepped out of the room to dispose of it, leaving the mother and daughter alone momentarily. Hippolyta unwrapped the baby girl from the swaddling she was in so that she could look at her fully. She was amazed at how small and perfect she was, her tiny arms, her tiny legs, her little round baby tummy. "Oh look at you, you're so perfect" she whispered to the child, marvelling at her little toes and fingers before wrapping her up again and holding her close lest she get cold.

When Antiope returned to them Hippolyta had put the baby to her breast and the little one was suckling contentedly. Hippolyta was aware of a noise from outside the palace walls, almost like a celebration was occurring.

"What's that sound?" she asked looking towards the windows.

"Your people are celebrating dear sister" Antiope informed her, smiling slightly "Their princess has been born".

Hippolyta gazed down at the baby again _, "the princess"_ she thought, _"my princess"_

Antiope sat down on the edge of her sister's bed and reached out to stroke her baby nieces head, she had a little tuft of black hair already and she was so unbelievably soft to touch. Antiope marvelled at her, she was so pure and new, so unlike the other amazons with their hardened muscles and their toughened skin tanned from the sun.

"What will you call her?" Antiope enquired

"Diana" Hippolyta told her, never taking her eyes of her baby girl

"Diana" Antiope repeated, stroking the baby's cheek gently "Hello Diana".

There was no talk that night between the two women of this new baby girl being a weapon created to be a godkiller, for now she was simply a baby, their baby, the only baby on the entire island, a child born of one mother but a daughter to them all.

 _Diana._


	2. Chapter 2

For the first few days of baby Dianas life Hippolyta had barely put her down, not that she was able to do very much else in those early stages, her body was still hurting from giving birth. Even for an amazon it had been a brutal trial bringing the child into the world and she needed rest. Still she could barely keep her eyes off her little girl, even on this great island Hippolyta thought her princess was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Her needs were very simple in the beginning, sleeping, feeding, changing and being held close were the only things she needed and Hippolyta was glad to be able to do them, if she wasn't in her little cot then she would be in a sling the queen had fashioned from a sheet of cloth to wrap around her so that the baby could be kept close to the breast. Feeding was the most precious time for the two, not just for Hippolyta to be able to feed her child from her breast, but the bonding experience too, it was like her love was flowing out of her and into her baby, it was wonderful.

"There you are my love" She said to her as the baby was suckling "I have plenty of milk to make you strong".

Antiope was an almost constant companion to the two, having delegated much of her soldiers training to Menalippe for the time being so that she could attend to her sister and her niece. Antiope loved that little girl almost as much as her sister, and she wasn't the only one. There had been much celebrating on the island ever since the news had spread amongst the women that their princess had been born, most of them had not seen a baby since they lived amongst men, countless years ago now, they had forgotten what one looked like and they were all yearning to see her.

" _Is it really true?"_ one woman had whispered

 _"I heard it crying from outside the palace_ " another had said

 _"It's been so long since I've seen one"_ spoke one more

Antiope had entered her sisters bedchamber to attend to the pair, she found her sister asleep whilst her niece was in her cot, awake and content, gazing around as far as her tiny eyes could go.

"Hello my little one" Antiope said to the little girl, she offered her one of her fingers and the baby grasped it and tugged at it with all her strength, not letting it go.

"You're so strong already Diana, I know you'll be a fierce amazon one day" she told her with a smile

"Antiope…." Hippolyta murmured, stirring from her sleep. "Won't you at least wait until she can walk before turning her into a warrior?"

The general turned to face her sister, amused at her comment. "As you wish dear sister".

The queen tried sitting up but her body was still aching, she grimaced and Antiope came to help her, propping her up against the pillows. "Here, you need to rest; your body must heal".

Hippolyta sighed, honestly this was ridiculous she thought, she was an amazon, the queen of the amazons in fact, and she felt like a caged animal being confined to bed rest like this, she should be out amongst her people.  
Although, having said that the thought of mounting a horse and riding it over the stony pathways of her island made her wince. Absolutely no horse riding for a while.

The two of them sat discussing what had been happening on the island since the Princesses birth, Antiope told her of the celebrations the women had been partaking in and how the women had spoken of nothing else but this new baby for the past few days. They wanted to see their Princess, that was clear to Hippolyta.

"Would you do something for me?" Hippolyta said, looking over at her baby girl in the cot.

"Of course, anything" Antiope told her

"Take Diana outside, take her to the people, I want them to see her". Hippolyta said, entrusting her sister with the most precious thing in the world to her.

"It would be an honour my queen". Antiope told her sister, rising and walking over to the cot again. As gently as she could she placed her strong hands around the tiny girl and picked her up, cradling her close to her chest. Antiope was the fiercest warrior on the whole of Themyscira, but as she held her baby niece in her arms she was only full of love and a need to protect this little girl, she knew she would love this child as if she were her own for the rest of time.

"I'll take good care of her I swear" Antiope said

"I know you will" Hippolyta replied

And so it was that Antiope took her baby niece, the Princess of Themyscira, outside of the palace walls for the first time. "This is your home Diana" Antiope told the baby girl, "Themyscira. Isn't it beautiful? It's almost as beautiful as you" she said as the child adjusted her eyes to the sunlight.

Antiope took her through the marketplace, to the fields where her soldiers trained and to many other parts of the island to show the women their princess, and it was the most remarkable thing. Many of the women stopped what they were doing entirely to gaze at the child, they crowded with a respectful distance around Antiope to get a look of the tiny girl and some of the women were reduced to tears at the sight of her, even the toughest of Antiopes soldiers felt moved beyond all reason to see the only baby that would ever live on the Island.

 _"Praise the Gods its true"_ Antiope heard Artemis say as she clapped eyes on Diana, and there was much more to be heard from the women as the tour continued.

 _"It's a baby, a real baby"_

 _"I thought I would never see one again"_

 _"She's beautiful"_

Even when little Diana began to cry the women couldn't help but be amazed by the sound of it

 _"Such noise it makes, such wonderful noise"_

 _"What's her name?"_ One woman asked

 _"Yes, tell us her name? We must know the Princesses name!"_ Came cheers from the people around her

"Diana" Antiope announced to a crowd of women, "Her name is Diana".

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 **I have an idea for a third chapter, I'll hopefully get to writing it soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

_"You will train her harder than any amazon before her, five times harder, ten times harder"._

Hippolyta was trying very hard not to regret the words she had spoken to her sister mere days ago, her order to train her daughter harder than anyone had ever been trained, but it was proving very hard for her.

It was hard seeing Diana be put through such brutal trials; seeing her take a hit, a punch, seeing her stumble and fall to the ground after being bested by Antiope in the training fields. It took everything the Queen had to not scream at Antiope in those first days _"Stop! She's too young! Cant you see she's hurt!"_ But she didn't, because she knew Antiope was right and she knew Diana would never forgive her if she stopped them. Diana had to be trained; after all, the child _was_ a weapon.

But Hippolyta was still her mother so they both had to tough it out, no matter how hard it was.

After one particularly gruelling training session Diana's muscles were so sore and achey she headed straight for the bathing pools afterwards to soak in the warm water, but even afterwards it was obvious to Hippolyta that she was still suffering. Bless her though, she didn't complain, or cry or beg Antiope to stop, not ever. She wanted to prove that she could be a tough amazon just like the rest of them, and she didn't want to show weakness in front of them. She wanted to prove that she could be more than just their Princess, the favourite child of the amazons; she wanted to be a warrior no matter what.

When Hippolyta and Diana were having their evening meal that night it was obvious to the queen that her daughter was exhausted, she could barely chew her food and it seemed as if she was about to fall asleep on her plate.

"Diana!" the Queen exclaimed, and Diana snapped her head up suddenly and looked all around as if she was unaware of where she was whilst swallowing a piece of bread that was hanging out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry…" she said quickly, thinking she was in trouble.

"Go to bed Diana" the Queen said with concern in her voice "You're exhausted".

Diana was far too tired to protest so she simply pushed her food aside and said "Yes mother" before standing up to leave, kissing Hippolyta on the cheek to say goodnight before leaving.

The Queen sighed, most of her appetite was gone now, there was too much on her mind. _"Surely this will get easier, for both of us"_ she thought to herself.

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Hours later when Hippolyta herself was readying herself for bed she passed by Dianas bedchamber and noticed her door was slightly opened so she stepped in to check on her daughter. Her heart almost broke to see her little girl practically passed out on her bed, she was still in her day clothes and had only managed to get one shoe off before sleep had taken hold of her.

"Oh my poor Diana" Hippolyta whispered before sitting gently down on the edge of the bed and slipping the other shoe off her daughters foot. She was so dead to the world even the Gods themselves wouldn't have been able to wake her; she didn't even stir when Hippolyta pulled the blankets over her and tucked her in properly. It struck her at that moment how it felt like an age since she had done this, put her child to bed. Diana hadn't needed her mother to put her to bed in a long time, and there had been no bedtime stories in years.

Her heart suddenly hurt and it felt like she couldn't breathe, something was painfully clear to Hippolyta at that moment, Diana wasn't her little girl anymore, she was growing up.

Tears began forming in the queens eyes. She could still remember the day she was born like it had just happened yesterday and she could still feel the agony of bringing her into the world. It pained her when she thought about how her daughter had come to be, her tryst with Zeus, he was not gentle at all when he had pressed himself into her and there was absolutely no pleasure in the act. It was his will to conceive a weapon with the queen of the amazons and Hippolyta told herself that she couldn't love the being growing in her belly.

But all that changed once she saw Diana for the first time, she remembered feeling such an overwhelming sense of love for her baby, the only baby that would ever be born on the island. When Antiope had placed her in her arms she was in love immediately and she felt ashamed of herself for ever thinking those terrible thoughts. _"How could I ever believe I wouldn't love you?"_ She said to herself as she gazed with love at her perfect little girl.

She remembered the wonderful feeling of breastfeeding Diana, how the bond between them had been forged during all those times, she remembered her first smile and when she would take her to the bathing pools when she was still a baby and they would bath together, those were her first swimming lessons and she remembered her squeals of delight as she was splashing around and playing in the water. She remembered the absolute joy of putting her baby girl to sleep every night in her little cot, watching her suck her thumb as she slept and the beautiful smile she would see on her face when she woke in the morning, always happy to see her mother. _"Hello my love"_ Hippolyta would say as she bent over the cot watching Diana reach her little arms towards her, begging to be picked up, which Hippolyta was always more than happy to do.

Every moment seemed to be a joy when Diana had been a baby, or maybe Hippolyta just preferred to remember it that way, even the more unpleasant tasks like changing nappies, wiping up drool and pacing around for hours with her in her arms when she wouldn't settle down to sleep, _"please Diana, please go to sleep. Even an amazon has to sleep"_ she would say as the baby continued crying. Even the sleepless nights with Diana were a joy, it was all a joy.

She remembered every single wonderful, silly, exasperating moment of raising a child. The absolute look of triumph on Dianas little face the first time she pulled herself up to stand, how she was unsure on her feet but when she had managed it she had raised her arms up in triumph at her first victory. Watching her crawl, then toddle, and then run around the gardens of the palace chasing the peacocks that roamed freely around the whole island. _"Diana my love, stop chasing the peacocks, you'll scare them to death"_ Hippolyta had called after her so many times, and each time she would just smile at her mother sweetly before seeking out a new adventure. Even each of the times she escaped from her lessons was remembered with fondness. _"How many times now Diana?"_ she once asked with a sigh as she caught the little girl on one of her escapades, and the child had replied with a cheeky smile, _"I haven't been counting mother".  
_ Hippolyta's most treasured memories were when Diana was still small, when her tiny hand fit entirely into hers and she wouldn't want to leave her side even for a moment. She was barely out of nappies when she had taken her riding on her horse for the first time, she remembered sitting Diana on the saddle in front of her, one arm tightly held around the little girl and her other hand on the reins as they rode slowly together. Diana had loved it immediately and she had begged her mother for her own horse after that day.

There had been times when Hippolyta couldn't fathom the fact that this child was supposed to be a weapon, she was so small and helpless and her hands were so tiny that it was unthinkable to expect her to ever wield any kind of sword. In many ways Hippolyta still saw Diana as that tiny baby she had held in her arms, that was one of the reasons she was so reluctant to let her train, it was her maternal instincts, she just didn't want Diana to be hurt. She still remembered a time when Diana couldn't have been more than 5 in mortal years, when she was exploring the Island and had run down some steps too eagerly and tripped, falling and scraping her knee on the stony ground. Oh how she had cried, many of the Amazons had rushed to her but she couldn't be consoled by anyone except her mother, and when Hippolyta had arrived on horseback she was alarmed at her daughters distress.

" _Diana!_ " she had practically screamed, seeing her childs bleeding knee and the tears on her face. _"What has happened_?" she asked, beseeching the women who were standing around her, but when Diana had cried " _It hurts!_ " and clutched her knee she didn't care about how it happened, she just scooped up the little girl in her arms and took her back to the palace. It was only after much care and many kisses that only a mother can provide that Diana had stopped crying and had fallen asleep in her mothers arms, exhausted by her injury. It was holding her at that moment that Hippolyta thought about the absurdity of placing the power of a God into this child, a child who could be hurt so easily.

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Even now as she watched over her tired little girl she still couldn't believe that she was created to be a God killer. This same little girl whom she had carried in her arms, whose hand she had held as she took her first steps around the island.

Hippolyta cried silently as she watched Diana sleep that night, her heart was breaking as she took in that fact that Diana was growing up. Was it really all over? All the times she had bounced her on her lap when she was a baby to make her smile, all those nights they had spent together braiding hair and giggling and telling stories before bedtime? Maybe it wasn't the training that Hippolyta was really objecting to all these years, maybe it was because Diana wasn't just something that had been created to defeat Ares, Diana was _her_ daughter, and maybe Antiope and Menalippe and the other amazons did love her like she was theirs but Hippolyta was the one who had carried her and birthed her. She was her mother, and as her mother she couldn't bear to see Diana be hurt.

Hippolyta wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to regain control of herself, she reached out and stroked her daughters hair gently, smiling as she did so, thankful that she still had this night to be her mother. "Diana…" she whispered as her fingers ran through her soft locks, "You are my greatest love, my beautiful Diana".

 **The End**

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 **Thanks for reading, leave a review if you liked it, i do so enjoy reading them.**


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